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14 



The Florists' Review 



Mat 13. 1915. 



OPEN LCrmi^^-' READEIi^, 



placed under a bench and allowed to 

 dry until some le&ves drop. We have 

 propagated each year largely JErom 

 blind wood, but until this year the 

 young stock has nearly all bloomed 

 well. A large percentage of old plants 

 fail to bloom each year. We grow 

 chiefly Avalanche, La Lorraine, Hamar, 

 Riverain, hortensis and Otaksa. What 

 is the trouble? J. J. G. & S.— Ohio. 



r^UALITY COUNTS BEFORE PRICE. 



I wish to write you a few lines in re- 

 gard to Mothers' day here in Fort 

 Smith. The day would have been a 

 success had the wholesale people sent 

 good stock, but the stock received from 

 them, both by myself and the Electric 

 Park Flower Store, was so poor that it 

 caused us a great deal of trouble. We 

 had set the price of carnations at $1.25 

 per dozen, but upon receipt of the stock 

 we were glad even to get 75 cents. It 

 seems as if the cities get the best stock 

 and we get what is left. 



Mothers ' day here would have made 

 me some money had I the stock, as I 

 had advertised heavily, but as it was I 

 will do well to break even. I had 600 

 carnations and 'lost over half of them 

 on account of being unable to use them. 

 I am not writing this as a roast to the 

 wholesale people, but in justice to the 

 florists in this part of the country. 



George Eye. 



THE PRICE IS THE THINa. 



Regarding Mr. Washburn's article, 

 "Where is the Outlet?" I would say, 

 give the country dealer a chance. At 

 all the big flower daj's, Christmas, St. 

 Valentine 's and Easter, the big city 

 growers and dealers cater to the rich. 

 Could the country dealer buy his flow- 

 ers at a more reasonable price, he could 

 do an enormous business without scar- 

 ing his customers out of buying flowers 

 for the rest of the year. He could 

 maintain a fair average price the year 

 around and could push fof business in 

 the surrounding towns if he Was sure 

 of his supply at a reasonable , price. 

 The masses, and they are going to be 

 the flower buyers of the future, do 

 not want to pay more than 75 cents or 

 $1 per dozen for their carnations and 

 $1 and $1.50 per dozen for their roses. 

 If the growers and the dealers in the 

 big cities would take a little less for 

 their goods on the big days, the coun- 

 try dealer would use a lot more stock 

 during the so-called gluts. 



F. R. 'Thornton. 



NATIONAL DAHLIA SOCIETY. 



Responding to the call of R. Vincent, 

 Jr., the organization of the National 

 Dahlia Society was consummated at an 

 enthusiastic meeting at the Grand 

 Hotel, New York, May 10. Those pres- 

 ent were: 



Austin. F. R., Turkerton, N. J. 

 BenJamiD. .T. R., Calvprton. L. I. 

 Brown, E. .S., East Mortolies, L. I. 

 Bun.var«l. H. A.. New York. 

 Pick, J. H., New York. 

 Diithie. JnineR. Ovstpr Bar. I.. I. 

 Ebel. M. C, Madison, N. "j. 

 Faulkner, A. F.. New York. 

 Hall. F. n.. Geneva. N. Y. 

 Hendrirkson. I. .S.. Floral Park. N. Y. 

 Kerr, O^orgc W., Do.vlestown, Pa. 

 Kind, Hiiro. Hammonton. N. J. 

 Klrby, James. Huntington, I,. 1. 

 Lane, J. .1.. Hcrapstead. L. I. 

 Merrltt. John W.. Farmingdale, \.. I. 

 P«»<>o<*. I.. K.. Berlin. N. J. 

 Rlgb.v, P. B., New York. 

 Shaw, J. Aastin, New York. 

 Stewart, W. J.. Boston. 

 Stiliman, Ooorge. Westcrl.v. R. 1. 

 Vincent. John S., White Marsh. MO. 

 Vincent. R., Jr., White Marsh, .Mil. 



e\ 



TheN purposes of the organization 

 were fully discussed, all those present 

 taking part. Messrs. Brown, Austin 

 and Hendrickson drew up constitution 

 and by-laws, closely following those of 

 the American Gladiolus Society, which 

 were adopted. Officers and committees 

 were chosen, as follows: 



President — R. Vincent, Jr. 



Vice-presidents— George Stlllinan. K. S. Brown, 

 L. K. Peacock and W. W. Wilniore. 



Secretar.v — J. J. L.ane. 



Treasurer — F. R. Austin. 



Executive committee — I. S. Hewlrickson. 

 George W. Kerr, James Dnthlc, Hugo Kind and 

 John S. Vincent. 



Nomenclature commlttee^F. H. Hall. James 

 Klrby, E. S. Brown, L. K. Peacock and Leonard 

 Barron. 



It is planned to hold a big show of 

 dahlias, the largest America ever has 

 seen, in New York in September. 



Your treatment of the hydrangeas 

 seems to be, in the main, correct. One 

 thing to remember is that to have suc- 

 cess with Avalanche, La Lorraine and 

 others of the French type the plants 

 must not be exposed to even light 

 freezings. This will not harm Otaksa 

 or hortensis, but will spoil the French 

 varieties, which are much more delicate. 

 They should be kept, after being pot- 

 ted, in a coldf rame, where they can 

 have full sunJi^ht, li placed below a 

 bench they are liable to get more or 

 less drip,, and it does not take much to 

 cause the buds to damp off on the 

 French varieties. I think j-our winter 

 treatment causes many buds to decay, 

 with a consequent loss of flowers. The 

 tops must be kept dry or you are sure 

 to have trouble. C. W. 



HYDRANGEAS NOT BLOOMINQ. 



We are having trouble with hydran- 

 geas not blooming. We propagate 

 about June 1, the old stock being 

 planted outside and the young stock 

 kept inside, and shift to 4-inch pots 

 in February. W^e keep the plants cool 

 and on the dry side untilthe latter part 

 of March. The old stock is lifted, 



BUSINESS EMBARRASSMENTS. 



Dayton, O. — E. E. Schaefer, the Ar- 

 cade florist, filed a vdluntary petition in 

 bankruptcy in the U. S. District court 

 May 1. The statement filed shows 

 liabilities of $12,295 and assets of 

 $9,977.55. Attorneys Burkhart and 

 Heald acted for the petitioner. 



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Peonies. 



The peonies are now making a rapid 

 growth. Even if they had a winter 

 mulch of old manure they will appre- 

 ciate some additional feeding now. In 

 order to benefit the plants at once, some 

 quick acting stimulant must be applied. 

 There is nothing better than liquid cow 

 manure, applied after a soaking rain. 

 If time will not allow of this being 

 given, a top-dressing of nitrate of soda 

 or dried blood should be used, scratch- 

 ing the soil over after applying it. It 

 is really surprising what a benefit this 

 will prove to the peonies, which ai'e 

 hungry for plant food at this season. 



Use the Coldframes. 



The rate of growth is now rapid 

 among bedding plants and between 

 these and the special Memorial day 

 crops there is always the danger of 

 overcrowding. In such cases a good 

 block of coldframes proves a wonder- 

 ful help. The bedding stock in them 

 thrives better than in the green- 

 houses, becomes stockier and is much 

 more easily hardened off. Too few flo- 

 rists appreciate the importance of cold- 

 frames. They are vastly superior to 

 heated greenhouses for, the production 

 of bedding plants in spring. Given the 

 sashes alone, it is a simple matter to 

 build a plank frame to stand them on, 



and a wonderful relief from overcrowd- 

 ed greenhouse conditions is soon ob- 

 tained. • 

 GladioU. 



The earliest planting of gladioli is 

 through the ground and now is the 

 time to make an additional large plant- 

 ing. Do not put all the bulbs in now, 

 but reserve some to go out jintil the 

 first week in June. These late planted 

 gladioli do noi possess the strength of 

 the earlier ones, but they will flower 

 later, which is what is wanted. Plant 

 the bulbs five or six inches deep. This 

 will keep the plants erect after the 

 flower spikes appear. If planted shal- 

 low they will fall over witn every wind 

 and rain storm that comes along. Do 

 not plant mixed gladioli; there is little 

 sale for them. Pink is the best selling 

 color, and America is still the leading 

 commercial sort of moderate price. 

 White comes next in popularity. Yel- 

 lows have some favor, while scarlet and 

 crimson do not sell particularly well. 



Entirely apart from growing gladioli 

 for cutting', there is a great field for 

 using gladioli on the many small es- 

 tates or public squares which country 

 florists are asked to care for. Tn solid 

 beds with a ground cover of some low 

 growing plants,- or as clumps in mixed 

 borders, is the best Way to uscth^m. 



